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Welcome to Bet Sage's
Online Gambling News Section, featuring the latest breaking
gambling industry news courtesy of
InfoPowa
News. This is your
one stop source for all
and any of the latest
developments concerning
all aspects of the
Online Gambling
Industry. InfoPowa News
are recognised as one of
the leading independent
gambling news services
in the online gambling
industry.
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Popular "Cleopatra" slot the first of many top games to appear on SkyVegas interactive TV channel
Online games developer Wagerworks justifiably boasts this week that "The sky's the limit as WagerWorks goes iDTV with SkyBet." The British television giant BSkyB subsidiary Skybet and WW have extended an earlier agreement to integrate the software company's popular games into the interactive TV channel SkyVegas.
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Swedish betting exchange profits from focus on eastern Europe
Investors in the Swedish online betting group Redbet.com will be pleased with quarter 1 results just released which show an encouraging turnaround from the SEK 650 000 loss in quarter 1 of 2006.
Redbet has recorded a 284 percent recovery in revenues, yielding a net profit of SEK 270 000 (US$39 500) in quarter 1 of 2007. Managing Director Lars Ekstedt said that the company's focus on central and eastern European markets was paying off.
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US$6.5 million (GBP3.3 million) deal to be financed through new share issue
UK betting brokerage Betbrokers plc has its eyes on the Las Vegas gambling information company Winning Edge, and has signed a letter of intent to clinch the acquisition, valued at US$6.5 million, by June this year
The acquisition is subject to further due diligence, agreement of satisfactory purchase terms and Winning Edge shareholder approval, and Betbrokers will finance the deal through a new issue of shares.
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Betting exchange hits GBP58 million betting turnover in six months
Competing aggressively with its more established rival Betfair, the UK betting exchange WBX has reached betting turnover of GBP58 million in only six months, according to a company announcement this week.
A spokesman said that in the week to May 21, the company saw a turnover of GBP 7.46 million, in a new record week for the company, and credited its series of zero percent commission promotions for the rising level of turnover. The standard commission at WBX is 3 percent on football matches, intended to undercut its rival's higher rate.
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Mobile supplier has reeled in Bwin as its latest partner
Mobile provider Cellectivity already has an impressive client list, having worked with the some of the biggest names in the online and mobile gambling business such as Party Gaming, Bet2Go and 888.com. This week the company added the major Austrian-listed online gambling group Bwin Interactive to its partnership books.
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Austrian injunction set aside
Bwin has won another legal hand in an online gambling dispute in which Omnia Communication-Centers GmbH sought an injunction to curtail the betting group's Austrian activities.
The Vienna Commercial Court this week rejected the injunction, which sought to prevent the bwin
Group from offering games of chance and in particular
poker and casino games on the Austrian market under its Gibraltarian licence. The court rejected the application on the grounds that there was no competition between the plaintiff and bwin.
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Gambling firms await decision on Svenske Spel poker
The giant Swedish government gambling monopoly Svenske Spel, which has proved a formidable opponent in the Scandinavian online poker sector, could continue to pose a threat despite the possibility of European Union action to liberate the flow of goods and services in the member nation.
Scandinavian reports indicate that the Swedish finance minister, Anders Borg, may take his lead from UK Chancellor Gordon Brown in using high tax rates and stringent regulations to discourage competing companies from entering the Swedish market, thus officially curtailing the monopoly but discouraging replacements.
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Australian online betting group migrates to UK platform
Centrebet International Ltd is the latest online gambling
group to migrate to the Orbis OpenBet One Account, One
Wallet solution, after years of operating a proprietary system.
The deal includes the integration of OpenBet Sportsbook and Fixed Odds Games modules, with functionality from the OpenBet Marketing module to follow in Phase 2 of development, a statement from Orbis disclosed this week.
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Wide range of betting options flow from collaboration
Virgin Bets, a new betting service from the Virgin Games stable will be at the centre of a marketing push, probably in the autumn, and supporting the action will be the experience of major online betting group Betfair.
Virgin has teamed up with Betfair to give its customers the ability to place bets on the entertainment, football, cricket, golf, greyhounds, motor sport, rugby and tennis sectors. The new Virgin Bets arm joins online poker, bingo, casino and skill gaming sites already operating under the Virgin Games banner.
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Two online players clash in a heads-up with $423 000 at the table
Major money that would not be out of place at the largest land poker tournaments was on the virtual table at Betfair Poker this week when two players with some of the biggest bankrolls in online poker decided to take each other on at $250/$500 no limit Hold�em.
Making essential viewing for anyone interested in high-stakes poker, �LoisLane� and �paoletto� have been battling regularly in the �Stockholm� online poker room at Betfair Poker over the past few days. At one point on Wednesday the average pot size displayed in the lobby on Betfair Poker was $71 000.
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America tries to avoid compensation clause as support for Antigua mounts.
The World Trade Organisation dispute over online gambling with Antigua moved centre stage again in Geneva, Switzerland Tuesday as the Antigua and Barbuda delegate criticised the USA and asked other countries to join it in seeking compensation from Washington for its failure to comply with global trade rules.
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Racetrack executive hints at other Internet possibilities
The President and CEO of Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky has hinted at wider ambitions for online betting activities through the company's Internet betting network.
Speaking to the Greater Louisville annual small business lunch gathering this week, Churchill Downs CEO Bob Evans hinted that his company's first venture into online account wagering, permitted due to carve-outs in US anti-online gambling legislation, may not be its last.
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On-premises gambling opened to US company
Sona Mobile is a name being heard increasingly in the online gambling industry; it was recently chosen to power the New York Racing Association's venture into Internet betting - the first of its kind to be licensed in NY state, and it has now been approved for on-premises wireless wagering in Nevada.
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Poker legend teams with movie star to produce environmental awareness documentary
The friendship between US poker legend Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has blossomed into a partnership to produce an environmental awareness documentary that is already receiving major international publicity in the wake of former Vice President Al Gore's campaigns to save the environment.
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Smith victorious in tough heads up
The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) continued to attract attention with exciting poker and big money last weekend in Brighton, with an hour-long tense heads up between David Smith and Neil Carr for a bumper first prize of GBP 95 100 ($189 000).
Smith secured the win when he called Carr's all-in re-raise on a 5-4-T all-diamond flop. Carr had made the flush with the 6-2, but Smith's nine of diamonds was better when the turn brought the ace of diamonds, too. The win places Smith in the top leaderboard position for the tourneys. He collected the big cheque, together with a seat in the GUKPT Grand Final worth GBP 10 000.
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Everest Poker a star, and new real money games planned for Japan
The Taiwan-based company that acquired Grand Virtual some time back has reported impressive quarter one results showing a growth in net income of 167 percent, and a solid performance from online poker site Everest Poker.com.
Giga Media's financial highlights in the quarter include:
* Consolidated revenues up 95 percent year-over-year to $36.1 million.
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Cross platform gaming benefits
Diarise Monday 11th June 2007 for an interesting event at the Berwin Leighton Paisner offices in London, where a slew of learned experts will expound the virtues and benefits of cross platform gaming.
Talking abour Changing Your Business Model to Succeed Cross-Platform will be media guru Pete Picton, who will share his secrets in translating traditional platform to online, adapting to a new environment and delivering content in a fresh way, whilst retaining � and increasing - customer base and cross-marketing.
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Researching, looking for venues or news? New Betsage facility will help
The popular online gambling information portal
Betsage.com has invested in new hardware and search functionality to provide visitors with sitewide search capability from today.
With over 2000 articles indexed, the search facility on Betsage allows visitors to find the information they are looking for quickly and efficiently. Results from search queries are in chronological order, with the most recent and relevant articles displayed first.
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Online gambling group wins an important victory in Germany
A Munich court has hopefully put an end to an 8 month online gambling ban dispute waged by the Austrian listed sportsbetting company Bwin Interactive and the German state of Bavaria, ruling that it is "technically not possible" to ban online sportsbetting in the state.
The dispute has its genesis in an attempt by the state of Bavaria to ban online sportsbetting last September, claiming that only its own Bayern Lotto state lottery monopoly was legal gambling in the region. The ban was contested by Bwin.
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New study shows significant "land players" could come online
Commissioned by online gambling white label provider St Minver in Gibraltar, a recent research study has found there could be a positive business spin-off for online gambling companies in the wake of UK smoking bans in land bingo halls.
The study found that the no-smoking ban is likely to have a serious impact on land bingo, with one in ten players giving up playing in clubs altogether. St Minver, which runs a number of Internet bingo websites, expects demand for its services will grow as the smoking ban prompts an exodus from UK clubs.
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This week could see a decision to reposition state-owned lottery
Hungarian politicians are scheduled to debate the management of the country's state-owned lottery Szerencsejtk this week following the introduction of a Hungarian parliamentary bill that seeks to regulate the management of state assets. The bill proposes that Szerencsejtk, which has enjoyed a 70 percent increase in revenues over the past two years, will be taken into a merged National Asset Manager company formed with stake holders from three government bodies.
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As if taxation is not enough, there is now a suggestion that companies "donate" more cash
Although it is not yet certain whether online sportsbetting companies are included, a new proposal on sharing profits with sports bodies in the UK will have bookmakers re-doing their sums this week.
Reports in the UK media have suggested that the government will put its weight behind proposals that bookmakers should contribute a share of their profits to Britain's five major sports - football, tennis, both codes of rugby and cricket. The argument put forward by sports administrators is that growth in gambling revenues from sports other than racing (which already has such a program in place) should entitle the sports concerned to benefit. A secondary argument is that because betting increases the liklihood of integrity challenges in sports events, more investment will have to be made in monitoring and enforcement practices.
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Canadian firm gets into European processing
The lucrative if confusing European payment processing sector will soon see Canadian competition following an announcement that Vancouver-based payZILLA Technologies Inc, has acquired the European facing payZ EU firm.
payZILLA Technologies is a provider of online payment technologies, products and services, making a good fit for payZ EU payment systems, which specialise in European online gaming and "...other high risk online payment processing."
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Paradise Poker's Slaget om Norden III tourney ends on a high note
Paradise Poker named it "The Battle of the Nordic Countries" (Slaget om Norden) and in its third edition this poker tourney lived up to its name, with players from the Scandinavian region competing fiercely for the big main prize of SEK 1 million, or around $147 000.
But the final heads up battle was a Danish affair between Jacob Pedersen and Thomas Pedersen, two unrelated and competitive players from Denmark who went at it hammer and tongs in a short but exciting finale to a successful and well supported event. The action took place well away from the traditionally chilly northern climes, with finalists travelling to sunny Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
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Proving once again that poker pulls players, there were almost 11 000 entrants in last Sunday's tournament
Continuing to break online poker records in its regular Sunday tournaments, Poker Stars.com achieved a stunning new all-time attendance record this weekend when 10 894 players pitched for its big Sunday Millions event.
Just under a day after dishing out $100 000 and $10 000 bonanzas to celebrate the dealing of its 10 billionth hand, which saw a record 100 000 players online (see previous InfoPowa report) the world's largest online poker site continued to pack 'em in.
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Main event action attracts 3 798 players
Someone who is clearly an action movie fan took home a bank-boosting winner's check of $336 218 at the weekend, truimphing in the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) main event.
Using the "Die Hard" movie character "John_McClane17" as his handle and inspiration the player beat a field of 3 798 - an FTOPS main event record turnout - to win the fourth FTOPS main event and collect the big prize. Over 500 players made the money bubble, 15 of them in the $10 000 range - not a bad return for the buy-in investment of $500 + $35.
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Modern technology and a little more privacy improves payout procedures
News items on the next World Series of Poker are proliferating as the biggest poker event in the world draws closer, and this week the subject was how busted players who are in the money bubble are paid out.
There was a time when eliminated players in the big World Series of Poker events would have to hang around waiting for their payouts in sight of the game where they had busted out, but all that has changed this year with the introduction of a streamlined and slickly automated system that the organisers claim will make a very positive difference.
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New Betting Site hits the net
A new, slightly tongue-in-cheek, betting site hit the Internet this week with the snappily titled url:
www.BloodyLongOddsOnFootballMatchesForPuntersWithMoreMoneyThanSense.com
Probably not one that will attract many type-ins, but for football punters who want to check up some of the more unusually long odds on offer at the bookies, complete with humorous commentary, it could be worth a bookmark.
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And a nineteen year old Canadian student gets the payout
Over 100 000 pokerheads were on the Poker Stars.com tables this weekend, hoping they would be at the right time and in the right seat for the 10 billionth hand of online poker, imminent at the world's biggest online poker venue (see previous InfoPowa report).
The march up to the big hand was impressive from the 9 billionth hand onward, with a series of rewards building excitement and interest at the tables, but the ultimate winner of the $100 000 set aside to mark the occasion turned out to be a nineteen year old Canadian student using the handle Justine0003...and she didn't immediately realise that she was the luckiest player in cyberspace!
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Settled Aussie sportsbetting case resurfaces
The Australian newspaper The Age delved into the recent past this weekend to uncover a little-reported settlement in the high roller tussle between International All Sports online sportsbook and The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and what fascinating reading it made.
Readers may remember 2003, when the news that a branch manager of the bank, Kim David Faithfull was found to have misappropriated almost 20 million Aussie dollars to feed his big thirst for sportsbetting (see previous InfoPowa reports) Faithfull, a branch manager in the Pilbara mining district of Western Australia, was eventually convicted and jailed for stealing $18 998 309.36 from the bank.
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Celebrities to play for Dafur needy
The Poker Stars and Ocean 13 cast initiative to help starving Somalian refugees (see previous InfoPowa report) has been followed by news of a second major Hollywood + Poker drive that has the backing of the World Series of Poker. It's called "Ante Up For Africa" and has already attracted top poker pros and Hollywood stars.
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| 18 MAY 2007 : HEADLINES |
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Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative supports proposal to license and regulate online gambling as the best way to protect the player.
The London-based UC Group payment services provider, in association with British accounting group Baker Tilly has launched its Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (see previous InfoPowa reports) across the United States. The initiative urges support for legislative attempts by Congressman Barney Frank to regulate and license online gambling in the United States as the optimum way to protect online players.
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UK mobile advertising deal will drive more over 18's to mobile gambling network
Probability Gaming plc, the UK mobile gambling provider is likely to see a marked increase in clientele for its licensees following an agreement with adult mobile advertising network Adultmoda this week.
Charles Cohen, CEO of Probability comments: Gambling is one of the highest yielding and most attractive services available to mobile users today, but reaching new customers efficiently is still a challenge. It's a challenge that Cohen is addressing through the Adultmoda deal, which targets mobile users in the over 18 age group.
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Online payments firm admits it cannot handle US online gambling business
US online gamblers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the operational antics of European online payments processor Click2Pay following an admission this week that it cannot effectively handle US Internet gambling withdrawals.
Several players reported receiving the following response whilst pursuing overdue withdrawals:
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Online processor reveals that $9.25 million of Internet gambling merchant funds frozen
It appears that Citadel Commerce is the latest online processing company to be targeted by the US Department of Justice, following a past involvement in the global online gambling industry.
Following a preliminary statement last month (April) the company has revealed that some $9.25 million of online gambling merchant's reserves in its care have been seized by the US Department of Justice.
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10 percent decline in wagers over the 'phone
London-listed Ladbrokes, which claims to be the world's largest publicly traded gaming company, has announced that profit fell 10 percent in the first four months of 2007 due to fewer telephone wagers.
The telephone betting arm of the UK company revealed that winnings plunged 47 percent at its phone-betting unit. Earnings were in line with the prior year excluding high rollers. Gross win, or the amount won from gamblers, rose 5 percent without high rollers and gained 2 percent when they are included.
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The Internet's buzzing with reports that the biggest online jackpot yet may have been won
It started when online gamblers noticed that the jackpot for Cryptologic's progressive slot Millionaire's Club had been re-set this week, triggering speculation that the almost 6 million dollar, Euro or pounds sterling bonanza had finally been whacked after many months where players watched the biggest jackpot around escalating steadily.
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Total Gaming Transaction Review testing approved for Gibraltar online gambling licenses
eCommerce and Online Gambling Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) has become one of the first organisations to be approved by the Ministry responsible for Gambling of the Government of Gibraltar for testing and certifying the integrity of online gambling equipment and software used by Gibraltar licensees.
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$200 000 bank account boost for online casino player
UK online casino 32Red.com celebrated the winning of another major jackpot at the venue this week, as the Treasure Nile progressive jackpot slot machine was hit for over $200 000.
The VIP player and member of 32Red Casino's exclusive Club Rouge spent part of last weekend playing a variety of the 240 online casino games available at the casino, and after trying his luck on several slot machines turned his attention to top customer fave Treasure Nile. Shortly thereafter he spun in the five Pharaohs on the 9th pay-line that delivered success and a major boost for his bank account.
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Arrested in January, and five continuances later Lawrence and Lefebvre remain untried
May 16 was the last date set for a hearing into charges related to online gambling lodged against Neteller founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre by the US Department of Justice, yet in the fifth continuance to date yesterday (Wednesday) the two men were told the matter had again been postponed - although for only two weeks rather than the now usual one month.
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Too much Hype and too little customer sensitivity
After months of slow-paying players, business difficulties have reportedly beset the Player Preferred-powered Hype Casino. Insider reports from several sources last week indicated that a major falling-out has occurred between the owners of the online casino, an Australian outfit called Nix Court Limited, and the software provider and its associated management company Firebrand Interactive.
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Recognition for the role of affiliates by top poker company
Casino Affiliate Programs, organisers of the CAP Spring Break convention for online gambling marketing affiliates celebrate the support of a major new sponsor this week. Heavyweight poker company World Poker Tour has stepped up as host of the Late Night Party element of CAP's next big event at the Aura Night Club in Atlantis, Bahamas.
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Online poker's biggest site puts up a million for charity...and powers towards its 10 billionth hand of poker.
The Internet's biggest and most active online poker site, Poker Stars.com has announced that it will make a $1 million donation to the Dafur humanitarian crisis in Africa in support of a major fundraising effort by the stars and cast of the upcoming gambling movie "Ocean's 13."
The donation will be presented in a blaze of publicity next week at the Cannes Film Festival and Poker Stars has created a series of special events to generate additional contributions for the fund in the coming weeks.
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Top online gambling group to sponsor whup-ass tournament
Gibraltar-based Internet gambling group 888.com is the new sponsor for the seventh World Heads Up Poker (WHUP) championship which starts on May 21 and runs through to May 29 at the Casino Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain.
In the competition, 128 players compete one-on-one in single elimination matches of no-limit Texas hold'em, and the ultimate winner picks up a paycheck of Euro 125 000 for the victory. The 16 surviving players will all be in the money from a prize-pool that totals Euro 320 000.
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Swedish provider elects new board...and CEO departs suddenly
Big moves were afoot at Boss Media, the Swedish online gambling turnkey provider this week when the company released its quarter 1 results and made changes to the board of directors that included the departure of the CEO, Johan Berg.
Operating profit was well up at 39 percent, and there was an 8 percent rise in sales although royalty revenues were down 3 percent.
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500 000 domains now registered in 104 countries indicates a vibrant mobile sector
A press release from dotMobi, the company behind Internet addresses dedicated to mobile phone applications, has announced that over 500 000 .mobi domains have been registered in 104 countries since the domain's commercial launch in October 2006.
Millions of pages of content are now live on .mobi sites, the company boasts and many of the world's leading brands have gone ".mobi" over the past few months.
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Boswell will be busy with new Isle of Man facility ready to go
European web host Netcetera has appointed a chief operating officer, David Boswell, as part of an international growth strategy.
Boswell is likely to be busy with the launch of a new, hi-tech Dataport centre on the Isle of Man imminent.
Peter Skelton, Managing Director at Netcetera group said: �The opening of our fifth data centre, the Dataport, is a significant milestone in Netcetera�s development. Dave Boswell has the broad range of skills and experience required to take our company to the next level and we are very pleased to welcome him aboard.�
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The Sands of the Caribbean was just too much of a mouthful anyway....
Players at the Cryptologic-powered "The Sands of the Caribbean" online casino have been informed this week that the long-established venue has been re-branded.
The new name is CS Casino.com which apparently has been chosen because it is easier to r | |